USA Swimming, after some delay, announced a few weeks ago the full 2011 World University Games roster (full roster breakdown here). Along with that release, they announced the head coaches for each team, who were North Carolina head coach Rich DeSelm on the men’s side and (then Wisconsin) new Arizona coach Eric Hansen on top of the women’s team.
Now, the assistant coaches for the meet have been announced. While this might not seem like a huge deal on the surface, this serves as a huge honor as well as a big opportunity for coaches to follow their swimmers to a huge international meet.
Men’s Assistants
Brett Hawke– Hawke, the freestyle sprint genius, placed 3 swimmers on the USA Roster: Breaststrokers Adam Klein and Micah Lawrence, and freestyler Kohlton Norys. Hawke may have gotten the snub from the French Team for this summer’s World Championships, but he has booked himself a ticket to China anyways. Any coach who has a sprinter on USA Swimming’s roster should be excited to have him working with Hawke, even if only briefly.
Harvey Humphries- Humphries has been an assistant at the University of Georgia for roughly 30 years, and is also the head coach of the Athens Bulldogs Swim Club (remember, this is a USA-Swimming-sponsored team, not an NCAA sponsored team). The Bulldogs have huge representation on this team, totaling 6 swimmers: Matt Bartlett, Mark Dylla, Andrew Gemmell, Chelsea Nauta, Megan Romano, and Shannon Vreeland. Humphries also coached at the 2007 World University Games for team USA.
Anthony Nesty- Nesty knows a thing-or-two about college swimming. With 5 total National Championships while a swimmer at Florida, he’s one of the most decorated swimmers in program history, and has an Olympic bronze medal from 1992 in the 100 fly, and a gold from 1988. Now, he serves as the associate head coach for the Florida men: a role that has taken on increased significance after Gregg Troy was named the head coach for the 2012 Olympic men’s team.
Women’s Assistants
Carol Capitani- Capitani is the second Bulldog coach to earn a spot on this roster, which with 6 athletes is no surprise. After a brief hiatus from the college ranks (when her husband was transferred to Singapore in 2008), she is back in full force and is an integral part for Georgia’s impressive women’s team. This has been a spectacular month for her: besides this appointment, she was also named Associate Head Coach of the Georgia women’s team today. She was also on the USA staff for the 2005 WUG’s.
Rick Demont- Demont is the motor behind the Tucson Ford Aquatics club that won the USA-Swimming Team National Championship in 2010. Also serving as an associate head coach at the University of Arizona, Demont will be taking 5 athletes with him. Annie Chandler, Alyssa Anderson, Cory Chitwood, Clark Burckle, and Adam Small are all headed to Russia.
John Hargis- Hargis is the head coach at Penn State, and is a 1996 Olympic medalist as a member of the USA’s 400 medley relay. He will have one athlete, backstroker Amy Modglin, on the USA-Swimming roster. Hargis doesn’t have the loaded resume like some of the other coaches on the list do, but at only 9 years into his college coaching career (and only his 4th as a head coach), he is definitely one of the rising stars of NCAA coaching.
This year’s summer World University Games, properly known as the “Universiade,” will take place in Shenzen, China from August 12-23rd.
When was the last time Rick DeMont was on a USA staff? He has done a suberb job for decades and I don’t think he has gotten the recognition and been on many, if any, staffs! Wonder why?
I can’t find any past staffs that DeMont has been on either. I wonder if it has something to do with his fight to get his gold medal back…I imagine that he’s ruffled a few feathers.
He’s got a friend in a high place now (Busch), so I’d imagine that will help clear up any bad blood. Definitely deserving though.
Deselm has two, Harris and Peacock. Hanson has Anderson and I am assuming Burkle is training at Zona still.
All the coaches have swimmers at WUGS
True, Hanson does now get to claim the ‘Zona swimmers (though at the time he was named head coach he still worked at Wisconsin).
He also has Wanland on the roster, from his time at Wisconsin. She’s the one who earned him the gig.
do either head coach have any athletes on the wug team or any team this summer? is that odd?